Prominent
Nisei
attorney recounts his life, including his experiences as the administrator of the hospital at
Manzanar
concentration camp and his role in landmark legal battles advocating for redressing injustices experienced by Japanese Americans.

Synopsis

Frank Chuman begins by recounting the day he left Manzanar and his work as the hospital administrator there, in order to complete his law education by going to the University of Toledo. He then returns to sharing how and why his parents immigrated to the U.S., including their strong sense of pride in being from Kagoshima Prefecture, or the Satsuma clan. He recalls his childhood, first in Santa Barbara, California, and then in Los Angeles, where his father worked as a gardener and then opened a dry cleaning business. Chuman was involved in numerous community activities, and went on to UCLA. He hoped to enter the Foreign Service after graduating but was told he would not be considered because of his ethnicity. He then decided to go to law school, and was attending USC Law School when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

He recounts how his parents destroyed everything Japanese in their possession, including how his father buried a samurai sword in the ground to conceal it. Chuman was asked to serve as the administrator for the hospital that would be established at Manzanar, and shares his unique memories of the setting up of Manzanar—including medical services—before the forcible removal of Japanese Americans began in earnest. He eventually left to finish law school, first at University of Toledo and then at University of Maryland. He returned to California to help his parents leave Manzanar.

Author Background

Frank F. Chuman was a prominent attorney who is best known as the author of
The Bamboo People: The Law and Japanese-Americans
(1976). In addition to his regular law practice, he played significant roles in some of the most important legal battles to restore rights and redress injustices experienced by Japanese Americans, including devising the strategy to use writ of error
coram nobis
as the means by which to reopen the wartime cases challenging the constitutionality of the curfew, exclusion, and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Learn more in the Densho Encyclopedia, a free on-line resource covering the key concepts, people, events, and organizations that played a role in the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Geography

Theme

Availability

Free On Web

Teacher Guide

Learn more in the Densho Encyclopedia, a free on-line resource covering the key concepts, people, events, and organizations that played a role in the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Useful Links

The Resource Guide to Media on the Japanese American Removal and Incarceration is a free project of Densho. Our mission is to preserve the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II before their memories are extinguished. We offer these irreplaceable firsthand accounts, coupled with historical images and teacher resources, to explore principles of democracy, and promote equal justice for all.